Maine

Dear Family and Friends,

We're sorry we're terrible at keeping everyone up-to-date on our lives. We are in the busiest stage of our lives thus far.

Jeremy is really putting in the time and effort to develop his skills to become the best dentist he can be. He comes home both physically and mentally tired, but invigorated about what he's doing. As his wife, it's so inspiring to hear him talk about his passion, and to see him so engaged in his work (studies). 

Chloe is growing incredibly fast. Not height-wise (she didn't hit the gene jackpot there), but her motor- and verbal- skills are expanding rapidly at this age. She's 21 months old today. We stopped counting how many words she could say around 16 months. At her 18 month appointment her doctor said she was speaking like a 2year old; and it's only kept growing. She regularly speaks in 3-4 word sentences, and loves repeating our dinner prayers (I still have yet to be sneaky enough to get it on camera). Her favorite songs are "Row Your Boat", "5 little ducks", and "Twinkle Twinkle". If you walked into our apartment at any given time during the day, she's either reading books, coloring, or singing with me. We go outside every chance we get, and are very excited for a summer on the beach.

As for me, I'm pretty busy mom-ing. Trying to soak up and cherish every moment with Chloe. Being a mom is truly EVERYTHING I ever dreamed of and more! I enjoy experiencing the developmental stages I learned about in the infant and child development courses I took; and utilizing skills I learned as a teacher to help challenge and guide her. I am so grateful to be able to stay home with her.

That being said, Jeremy recently bought me an acoustic guitar so I could start playing again (I may have been going a little emotionally crazy by not being super engaged in anything outside of mom-ing). It's only been a couple of days, but it's breathed new life into my soul. It's easy to get caught up in daily responsibilities, and to put aside the things that I love, simply because there isn't enough time (sorry guitar, singing, sewing, and reading). Slowly, I'm learning that it's equally important for me to be engaged in things as an individual, and not always function in the mom and wife roles, because in the end, it helps me be the best mom and wife I'm capable of being. I've ordered a music book from the phenomenal children's musician, Raffi! I can hardly wait to develop a passion of mine, while simultaneously nurturing Chloe's verbal and musical abilities.

Al Fine 𝆕